Jim Lee and Dan Didio named Co-Publishers of DC!

[Drz]

Announcement here:

Jim Lee and Dan DiDio Named Co-Publishers DC Comics

Geoff Johns to Serve as Chief Creative Officer

John Rood Named EVP, Sales, Marketing and Business Development
Patrick Caldon Named EVP, Finance and Administration

Note from Diane Nelson

Note from Jim Lee & Dan Didio

Note from Geoff Johns

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't really know what any of that means in practical terms, but that certainly sounds like a promotion for DiDio, which just boggles the everloving f*** out of my mind.

 

[Drz]

Note from Geoff Johns

 

[kguillou]

I'll give it to Johns, he's earned a promotion, the guy's been in charge of most of their properties for a while now. I'll even give it to Lee, but DiDio? Bah! The guy obviously doesnt know what the hell he's doing over and is pretty much letting Johns run the show. Oh and since Lee has been promoted, can we actually see him draw stuff now?

 

[Sawyer]

I'm most excited about the Johns part, but the rest.... I'll wait and see.

 

[Mee]

I'll give it to Johns, he's earned a promotion, the guy's been in charge of most of their properties for a while now. I'll even give it to Lee, but DiDio? Bah! The guy obviously doesnt know what the hell he's doing over and is pretty much letting Johns run the show. Oh and since Lee has been promoted, can we actually see him draw stuff now?

Odds are it means even less Lee drawing.

 

[Darthphere]

Because Jim Lee did such an awesome job at Wildstorm. Books came out on time, almost no relaunches. Everything came out perfect.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hasn't he managed Wildstorm the entire time it's been around, though? Wildstorm did have a heyday when all was good. Plus, I can't really hate a guy who approved Welcome to Tranquility.

Although I can definitely hate a guy who's left me without Welcome to Tranquility for years while promising me new issues every few months.

 

[Darthphere]

Hasn't he managed Wildstorm the entire time it's been around, though? Wildstorm did have a heyday when all was good. Plus, I can't really hate a guy who approved Welcome to Tranquility.

Although I can definitely hate a guy who's left me without Welcome to Tranquility for years while promising me new issues every few months.

**** JIM LEE AND HIS ****ING CROSS HATCHING!!!!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, and Gail Simone and her gently satirical yet hilarious dialogue, too!

 

[Darthphere]

Is anyone other than BrianWilly even reading her Wonder Woman?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I was until a few months ago. Even Beedub says it's s***ty now, though. Every time a new issue comes out, he writes a long diatribe about how he hates himself for not liking Gail Simone's Wonder Woman or something to that effect in the Wonder Woman thread.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

I still read it. Mostly because I just miss reading Wonder Woman in her own solo adventures.

I don't think it's nearly as terrible as people say it is.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I was hyperbolizing. Beedub usually says it's pretty mediocre and that Simone, for all her love of Wonder Woman, just doesn't get the character as Beedub sees her. More of a disappointment than an outright unreadable piece of s***.

 

[The Batman]

It's official:

1. Jim Lee will never finish "All star batman and robin"

2. DC will continue being the mess it is now, save for some really good books.

 

[BrianWilly]

Okay I don't understand all them fancy booklearnin' words. I get that this is probably a good thing for those three people individually, but what does it really mean for the company? Is this a good thing or...what? I don't even know what I'm asking, really.

I was until a few months ago. Even Beedub says it's s***ty now, though. Every time a new issue comes out, he writes a long diatribe about how he hates himself for not liking Gail Simone's Wonder Woman or something to that effect in the Wonder Woman thread.

I will cut you with a spork. But, yesh, that sounds about right. She's written like forty issues now or something, I'm just done waiting for her to recapture the goodness of her first four.

Almost every single corner of the DCU seems to have a lot going on at the moment, even if it's not actually good, and I'm just tired of looking at the WW side and still just seeing Simone doing...I dunno, whatever she's still doing. Not good and not bad, which is worse than bad in a lot of ways.

I thought everyone loved Secret Six, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I love Secret Six, although the constant betrayal theme was boring by the second arc. I'm annoyed at Simone for putting Welcome to Tranquility on seemingly indefinite hold, though.

 

[NightBeetle]

Interview with Didio and Lee

Jonah Weiland: First of all, congratulations! I'm sure you've got a million things to do quickly today, so let's jump right into it. The first question posed to CBR right after the announcement went out was for Dan and Jim via Twitter Simply put: what does it mean to be a co-publisher?

Dan Didio: Well, with Co-Publishers for us, I'm going to reiterate some of the points that Diane made to the staff and to everybody. When she was putting this team together, she was looking at the complimentary skill sets that both Jim and I possessed for each other in working together. From my standpoint, I couldn't be happier to be working with Jim and with how we approach our business and how we approach the creative. I really think it helps broaden the appeal and the direction not just of what I know we do well in the DCU or Jim does WildStorm but really across all the imprints of DC Comics. We'll be touching upon Vertigo and MAD as well.


Jim Lee: We've both got a lot of overlap in our editorial sensibilities, and at the same time we both have very distinct points of view editorially, and that will serve the diversity of our line very well. Honestly, we both take part in the relationships with the key creatives out there.

Dan Didio: And what we're going to be doing together is identifying key talent, identify product together that we'd like to work in – I think it's essential that I mention how Geoff Johns is going to be integral to this entire process. Geoff as Chief Creative Officer will really be leading the creative charge across all the lines. And [he'll be working on] not only how they appear in comics but how the apply to movies and TV. You're going to see a full integration of how publishing works with the rest of DC Entertainment in regards to our characters, and while my primary interest and primary focus will be involved in the physical print process, Jim is going to be creating a leadership role in the digital aspect of publishing.

Jim Lee: With our VP of Marketing and Sales John Rood!

Kiel Phegley: I think we all should have guessed something was going on in New York this week as Geoff has been Twittering about taking big meetings in New York, but now that we know what you're doing it's a reminder that the staff is split between the West Coast with Jim and Geoff and Dan and the editorial offices being in New York. How will you guys coordinate the team, and is there a chance now of DC proper moving out west?

Geoff Johns: Well, in the immediate I already travel back and forth so much. You can check my Twitter to see how much I've been in New York for the last year. I'll be traveling back and forth and balancing my time between the two, because my standard role is about working with editorial creatively and still writing and then working in Burbank and beyond to explore all our characters and stories from every imprint outside the comic book pages. So I'll be doing that on both coasts, and I think Jim's going to be traveling. We'll probably have a race to see who gets more frequent flyer miles. [Laughter]

 

[SouLeSS]

So wait, does this mean that just about everything has to go through Johns now as far as story approval?

 

[Sawyer]

It's official:

1. Jim Lee will never finish "All star batman and robin"

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

We'll be touching upon Vertigo and MAD as well.

Dear God, please don't let DiDio f*** up Vertigo now, too...

 

[Drz]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Extremely bad thing.

 

[Darthphere]

Dear God, please don't let DiDio f*** up Vertigo now, too...

What happened to Karen Berger?

 

[Sawyer]

Extremely bad thing.

Heh. I was leaning towards it being a good thing. I hated All Star Batman and Robin.

 

[Drz]

Heh. I was leaning towards it being a good thing. I hated All Star Batman and Robin.

Each for their own. I love it personally. It answers and rises more interesting questions out of Miller's Batman universe.